UK PM race: Rishi Sunak closes campaign on personal note with parents, wife Akshata

International

oi-Madhuri Adnal

London,
Sep
01:
Rishi
Sunak
struck
a
personal
note
in
the
final
hustings
event
before
the
election
for
a
new
Conservative
Party
leader
and
British
Prime
Minister
concludes,
as
he
thanked
his
parents
and
wife
Akshata
Murty
for
their
support.

Addressing
a
teeming
concert
venue
at
Wembley
in
London
on
Wednesday
night,
the
Indian-origin
former
Chancellor
could
have
been
mistaken
for
a
rockstar
amid
the
loud
cheers
and
screams
of
“Rishi,
Rishi”.

Given
the
sharp
contrast
between
his
booming
welcome
and
that
of
his
rival,
Foreign
Secretary
Liz
Truss,
it
was
clear
that
at
least
for
this
audience
Sunak
was
the
winning
candidate
in
the
race
to
succeed
Boris
Johnson.

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“This
final
hustings
is
special
for
me
because
the
two
people
who
inspired
me
to
enter
public
service
are
actually
here
tonight
–
my
mum
and
dad,”
opened
Sunak,
as
the
cameras
panned
to
the
front
row
where
his
general
practitioner
father
Yashvir
and
pharmacist
mother
Usha
were
seated
with
his
wife
Akshata.

“It
was
their
example
of
service
and
what
they
did
for
people
that
inspired
me
to
enter
politics.
Mum,
dad
thank
you
for
always
sacrificing
and
striving
to
provide
a
better
life
for
your
kids
than
you
had.
And,
thank
you
for
teaching
me
that
with
hard
work
and
belief
and
the
love
of
your
family
there
is
no
limit
to
what
someone
can
achieve
in
our
great
country,”
he
said,
to
applause
and
cheers
from
the
crowd.

Turning
to
his
“incredible,
loving,
kind
wife”,
the
daughter
of
Infosys
co-founder
Narayana
Murthy
and
author
Sudha
Murty,
the
42-year-old
Tory
MP
for
Richmond
in
Yorkshire
referenced
their
love
story
as
students
at
Stanford
University
in
the
US.

“You
know
what
you
mean
to
me,
and
I
am
incredibly
grateful
that
18
years
ago
you
chose
to
give
up
your
high
heels
and
take
a
chance
on
the
short
kid
with
a
backpack,”
he
said.

The
event
saw
both
finalists
set
out
their
vision
on
tackling
the
cost-of-living
crisis,
fighting
crime,
taxation
and
immigration
reforms
and
foreign
policy
priorities
one
last
time
in
an
attempt
to
convince
any
remaining
undecided
Tory
members
yet
to
vote
before
the
poll
closes
on
Friday
evening.
It
was
followed
by
a
question-and-answer
round
during
which
they
fielded
questions
from
among
the
nearly
6,000-strong
audience
of
voters
and
political
enthusiasts.

UK
PM
race:
Video
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Sunak,
wife
Akshata
Murthy
performing
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Pooja’
in
London
goes
viral

“The
greatest
sacrifice
I
have
made
is
that
I
have
been
an
appalling
husband
and
father
for
the
past
couple
of
years,
it’s
as
simple
as
that,”
replied
Sunak
to
a
question
about
his
greatest
sacrifice
to
be
in
the
running
to
become
the
UK’s
“first
non-white
Prime
Minister”.

“That
is
something
that
is
really
hard
for
me
because
I
love
my
kids
to
bits,
I
love
my
wife
to
bits
and
unfortunately,
I
have
not
been
able
to
be
as
present
in
their
lives
at
all
in
the
past
few
years
as
I
would
have
liked
to
have
been,” he
said.

”But
that’s
because
I
believe
it’s
an
enormous
privilege
to
have
these
jobs.
I
care
passionately
about
our
country
and
think
I
can
offer
something
that
will
benefit
millions
of
people,
that’s
why
I
do
it
and
I
am
really
blessed
to
have
their
support
as
I
do,”
he
added.

The
London
event
marked
the
12th
and
final
event
in
the
Tory
leadership
election
race,
which
concludes
on
Friday
at
1700
local
time
and
the
winner
is
set
to
be
announced
on
Monday.
Sunak,
the
frontrunner
in
the
first
leg
of
the
contest
when
his
parliamentary
colleagues
voted
him
in
as
a
finalist,
has
been
trailing
in
the
pre-poll
surveys.
His
“Ready4Rishi”
team
has
used
this
to
frame
his
campaign
around
the
theme
of
his
self-confessed
“underdog”
status
in
the
race.

”I’ve
not
chosen
to
say
the
things
that
people
may
want
to
hear,
I’ve
said
the
things
I
believe
our
country
needs
to
hear,”
said
Sunak.

”Although
it
hasn’t
made
my
life
easy,
it
is
honest
and,
for
me,
that
is
what
leadership
is
all
about,” he
added,
reiterating
his
central
message
of
fighting
inflation
before
any
tax
cuts
–
in
contrast
to
Truss’
campaign
theme
of
cutting
taxes
from
day
one
as
the
new
Prime
Minister.